A NEW MINING MACHINE

Dunstan Times, Issue 1042, 7 April 1882, Page 3

A NEW MINING MACHINE

The pul,lie trial of a newly-invented machine, constructed (or the novel purpose of moving gold from auriferous sand or gravel without the use of water, to, k place at Melbourne recently. The machine, which has been designed by Mr Charles Phillips, and patented in nearly all the Australian colonies, is of a very simple* character as far as working is concerned, and possesses the additional advantage of being compact and portable. The main features in connection with it are a series of inclined riddles, fixed in square frames, and shaking tables, with the addition of a fan air-blast at one end. The auriferous sand or gravel is cast in f o the highest of these riddles, the finer fragmems of sand and gravel falling through it, while the larger portions, by the continual movement of the tables, Hud their way over the lower edge, and tall through shoot? clear of the machine. The riddles to which allusion has been made are placed directly under each other, and all have the same incline. They vary in degrees of fineness, the coarsest one being at the top. All the larger fragments of gold are caught and detained by a series of ripples arranged diagonally across these riddles, none hut the very finest specks being able to pass through the lowest of the series. Immediately on falling through, however, these small specks, with accompaniment of dust and fine sand, come under the influence of the air-blast, the lighter material being blown through an aperture, while the gold, by reason of its greater weight offo ing resistance to the air, falls on an inclined table underneath provided with a number of iron ripples of superior construction, amongst which it is detained. The whole of the contents of the ripples attached to both the riddles and tables, as well as the sand which escapes from the latter, is then panned off, and the gold secured. The machine can he worked by one man, and easily transported from one spot to another by a single horse. The test consisted of putting through a load of ordinary mixed sand and gravel, in which lOAdwt. of fine and coarse gold had been mixed. The operation occupied 10 minutes, and on being panned off B|dwt. of gold was recovered from the ripples alone, the larger portion of the residue being usually discovered in the concentrated sand which escapes from the inclined tables, and fulls into one spot beneath the machine. The machine is specially adapted for the treatment of pyrites, blanklet sand, &e., as by its aid the finest gold is most easily and while no doubt can be entertained of its usefulness where the washdirt is perfectly dry, the general principal of working leads to the belief that when treating damp rraterial some difficulty would he experienced in keeping the finer riddles from becoming choked up and useless. The chief ineiit of the invention is its simplicity, both in construction and method or working. and if the difficulty alluded to can no overcome it should prove almost invaluable to the owners of small auriferous claims.